


tell me so i'll know

by elisa_pie



Category: Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: M/M, Post-Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 17:55:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12869913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elisa_pie/pseuds/elisa_pie
Summary: Richard needs to talk to Jared, but picks the wrong (or right?) moment for it.





	tell me so i'll know

Richard doesn’t bother knocking on the garage door. He’s holding his laptop in one hand and some documents about the latest legal disaster in the other, so he can barely even get the door open without dropping everything.

He’s not really looking up from his laptop when he enters the room and says, “Jared, I need to talk to you about something.” 

“Richard! Oh. Well, now is not a good time—” Jared starts. 

Richard looks up, confused. Why wouldn’t it be a good time? Jared’s holding a stack of cards and a pen, and he looks... well, if Richard didn’t know any better, he’d say Jared looks panicked. But what could _Jared_ be panicking about? Is there some new disaster waiting for Pied Piper that Richard doesn’t even know about yet? And just as he was figuring out how to save them from the most recent disaster.

“Sorry, but this is pretty important, I think I figured out how to—”

“Richard, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but could I just have a few minutes? I’ll be right out, we can go over whatever it is you wanted to talk about in the work room, just, please…”

Jared’s speaking much faster than usually, his eyes drifting from Richard to the door and somewhere on the wall behind Richard. His eyes are very wide, and he looks so scared Richard is getting second-hand anxiety just from watching him. Which, on top of his own almost constant state of anxiety, doesn’t really help.

“Okay, sure,” Richard agrees slowly, frowning. “But this is pretty important, alright? If we want to get this mess fixed today.”

Richard turns to leave, still confused, and his gaze falls on the SWOT board tucked against the wall. Is that what Jared was so panicked about, Richard wonders. He almost laughs in relief before he sees the words at the top of the board. But they don’t make any sense, so he reads them out loud.

“ _Telling Richard the truth_ … what is this, Jared?” Richard asks slowly.

He puts his laptop and the papers down on Jared’s bed and moves closer to the board, curious and a little bit scared now. Is something really wrong with the company? What could be so bad Jared wouldn’t just tell him about it?

Richard immediately takes one of the cards under “threat”, fearing the worst. He needs to know what could be the worst consequence of whatever Jared’s afraid of telling him. Jared still hasn’t said anything, so it probably _is_ something bad. Maybe they’re being sued again, and Jared’s trying to find a way to break the news gently, to soften the blow. That’s definitely something Jared would do, Richard thinks and smiles a little until he sees what’s written on the card in Jared’s neat handwriting.

 _Richard hates me and I have to resign_.

Now Richard is even more confused. He turns around to face Jared, the card still in his hand.

“What is this? I could never — Jared, you’re so important to me, I could never hate you, or—or make you quit! I just begged you to come back after being the world’s biggest asshole to you. And the rest of the guys. But. Especially to you. This doesn’t make any sense.”

“You… you didn’t see the rest of the cards?” Jared says. He’s standing very still, staring at Richard.

“Not yet, but—” Richard starts and turns back to the board to take another card at random, filled with Jared’s neat, tiny handwriting.

Richard doesn’t get a closer look than that at the board because Jared moves to stand in front of it. His hands are shaking, and he looks pale — or paler than usually, anyway.

“What’s going on, Jared?” Richard asks, impatient and more than a little worried.

“Nothing, just, please. Don’t read that.”

“Why? This is something you were planning to tell me about anyway, right?” Richard presses on, gesturing towards the board.

“Well, I-”

“Come on, this way you don’t actually have to tell me. And I promise, no matter how bad it is, whatever you’re trying to hide from me. You won’t get fired. It’s okay. Just, please. Calm down. You’re making me nervous.”

“Okay,” Jared says.

“So can I?” Richard says, pointing at the card in his hand. He figures he should ask first, but he’s so overcome with curiosity he can barely wait for the reply.

Jared nods and moves slightly away from the board, away from Richard. “I’m sorry.”

“What? You have nothing to be sorry for. Jesus, you’re acting like the world is ending or something and—” Richard pauses, reading the card he managed to snatch from the board before Jared... oh. _Oh_.

_Getting to touch Richard, to kiss him and hold him in my arms._

“Is this one of. The opportunities?” he asks, shoving the card towards Jared, who takes one look at it and closes his eyes, nodding quickly.

“That’s what all of this is? You—you _like_ me?” Richard stutters.

He’s still trying to wrap his head around what’s happening. So there’s no new disaster waiting for them, no bad news for the company. No, this is definitely _not_ bad news.

“Yes,” Jared says, still looking down.

“And you, um. You. Did a SWOT analysis?”

Jared nods, looking miserable. “I hope you don’t think that’s too creepy. As you can see, from the other card you read, I am entirely prepared to leave the company, if this makes you uncomfortable in any way—”

“No, no, no, Jared,” Richard says, shaking his head frantically. “No one’s getting fired, or leaving. Especially not you, not when I just got you back — didn’t you listen to what I just said?”

“Well, yes,” Jared answers quietly. “But that was before you knew I had these… these _inclinations_ towards you.”

“Inclinations to—to kiss me? To. Hold. Me?” Richard asks, still hardly believing it even though he’s read it — quite a few times now — with his own eyes.

“Yes,” Jared says, looking miserable.

Richard steps closer to the board again, unable to help himself. He decides not to look at the other cards under threat, and to focus on the opportunities instead. There’s one about closer interpersonal relationships benefiting the company, and Richard smiles. Of course Jared has thought about the opportunities their relationship would have for the company. There’s also one about the mental health benefits of physical and emotional intimacy.

“You, um. There’s nothing about sex written here?” Richard says suddenly.

“I hardly even let myself think about it,” Jared says. “Richard—”

“I have,” Richard says quickly, too quickly, turning around to face Jared. “Uh, thought about it.”

“Oh,” Jared whispers, his eyes widening in surprise.

“Just, uh. Sometimes,” Richard rushes to explain. “Late at night, when I'm. In bed. Alone. Thinking how nice it would be to have someone else there. And I. Thought about. You.”

Jared shakes his head, like he can’t believe what he’s hearing.

“Not because—” Richard starts. “It wasn’t just, um. I think about you. A lot, actually. You always make me feel so safe and cared for, you know?”

“Oh, Richard, that’s—” Jared starts, his voice breaking a little.

“And I had no idea you… I thought you were just being nice. A little too nice maybe, but—” 

Richard stops and takes another look at the cards in his hand. He takes the one about getting fired, scrunches it into a ball and throws it into a bin in the corner of the room. Or at least in the direction of the bin. Richard then holds up the one about kissing and looks at Jared.

“So, can we, please—”

He doesn’t get any further than that when Jared kisses him. It’s a smash of mouths more than a proper kiss, and their noses bump, but it feels amazing all the same. Richard giggles a little, full of joy and relief and all kinds of tender feelings he can’t bring himself to name. He can feel Jared’s smile against his own.

Then Jared lifts his hands to cradle Richard’s face, guiding their mouths together more slowly. Richard responds instantly, melting into it and winding his arms around Jared’s waist.

Sometimes, when Richard thought about this — in his bed, a hand sneaking into his boxers — he thought that kissing Jared would be, well. Nice. Because Jared is always so careful and so gentle with him, so maybe kissing Jared would be like that too? And it is, sort of — the careful way Jared is holding him close, the way he seems to be paying close attention to what Richard likes and doing more of it. But it’s also really intense. When Jared drags his mouth down Richard’s jaw, Richard gasps for breath, holding tightly onto Jared’s back. He’s so turned on he's a little afraid that his legs might give out.

“So, um,” Richard starts breathlessly. “You’re interested in all the sex stuff, too, right? Because I’m. Well. Definitely interested. In that.”

“Oh, yes,” Jared says, kissing his way down Richard’s neck. “I want to—to _worship_ you. To taste you everywhere, and treasure you. I want to make you feel so good.”

Richard shudders, unable to reply for the moment under the delicious attack of Jared’s mouth. He’s torn between wanting Jared to keep talking like that and wanting Jared to kiss him again. Richard’s never been particularly good at restraining himself when it comes to Jared and Jared’s attention, always jealously wanting more.

But then Jared moves away, and Richard whimpers a little.

“Is that too weird?” Jared asks, concerned. “I can tone it down, if it’s making you uncomfortable, I would never want to—”

“No, just, shut up, okay? It’s not,” Richard shakes his head and reaches for Jared again. “I’m not uncomfortable. It’s just. No one’s ever said stuff like that to me. So, yeah, it’s a little weird. But, good weird, you know? Really, um. Good.”

Jared still looks a little hesitant. “Some people have found it too much,” he says carefully.

Richard reaches up clumsily to brush back the hair falling onto Jared’s forehead. “No, no, I want you to. Do all that stuff to me. Okay?”

Jared’s looking at him in wonder. “Are you sure, Richard?”

“Yeah,” Richard sighs. “And I really wanna make you feel good too. But. I’m not sure I know how to?”

“Oh, oh Richard,” Jared whispers. “I’m sure you’ll be magnificent.”

“And I wish we could, now, but. There’s a lot of stuff to do, and we need to talk about how to handle all that legal bullshit and,” Richard pauses and shakes his head. “Fuck. I was barely able to concentrate before, and…”

“Would a blowjob help?” Jared asks.

“Uh, what?” Richard splutters.

“We can take our time with each other later, but for now…” Jared says, his hand moving slowly down Richards chest. “I could do that. I want to do that to you. And it might help you to relax.”

“Oh, okay,” Richard agrees, a little dazed at this turn of events. “Yes. Please. Okay.”

Jared grins at him and drops down to his knees. He looks up, hands hovering over Richard’s fly, silently asking for permission.

“Yeah, yeah, do it.”

Jared wastes no time in getting Richard’s fly open and pushing his pants down, along with his boxers. Richard moans, unable to help himself, and Jared’s not even touching him yet. He’s already hard from all the kissing and the things Jared has been saying to him. It’s not going to take long, he thinks, especially when Jared touches his lips to the head of Richard’s cock and kisses it gently. It’s so bizarrely sweet, and hot, and Richard isn’t sure he’ll be able to survive having his cock in Jared’s mouth. His hands hover around Jared’s shoulders, unsure what to do.

“You can pull my hair, if you want. I like that,” Jared says brightly before taking Richard’s cock in his mouth.

 _Yeah_ , Richard thinks, his hands flying to Jared’s hair. _Definitely not gonna take long._

“Jared, Jared, I’m gonna—” Richard warns after a few thrusts into Jared’s willing mouth, his hands tightening in Jared’s hair.

Jared just hums and looks up, eyes so blue, and then Richard is coming, making embarrassingly loud noises as he does. Jared just swallows around him, then licks him clean and tucks him back in.

Richard sits down on the bed, trying to catch his breath.

“Oh, fuck. That was… amazing.”

Jared smiles at him as he stands up. “Glad to help.”

Richard laughs. He’s definitely feeling more relaxed, but a little mortified at how quickly it was over.

“I, um. Usually I last a little bit longer?”

“That’s okay,” Jared says, smiling. “I didn’t mind at all.”

Richard gestures towards Jared’s pants then . “Should I — I mean, do you want me to—”

But Jared just shakes his head and starts to take down the cards from the SWOT board. 

“Thank you, but that can wait. We have some rather urgent business matters to discuss, don’t we?”

“Um, yeah,” Richard agrees, struggling to remember why he came to see Jared in the first place. 

He picks up his laptop, making room for Jared to sit next to him on the bed. Jared carefully puts the now empty board behind some shelves and sits down right next to Richard. They’re so close that their thighs are touching, and Richard feels a little thrill go through him at the contact. Which should maybe be weird because he just came in Jared’s mouth? But this feels intimate in a way he’s never let himself be with Jared before, and it’s wonderful.

Jared hands him one of the cards from the SWOT board, and Richard looks at him, curious. 

“You, um. Wanted to save that one?”

“Yes. It’s one of my favourites,” Jared replies and smiles, looking a little bashful. “One of the opportunities, but also… the thing I wanted to tell you.”

Richard looks at the card, his cheeks heating up and his heart beating faster as he reads the words. He leans over clumsily to take Jared’s hand in his, then hesitates for a moment before giving Jared a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you,” Jared whispers.

“No, you don’t have to—to thank me,” Richard starts and squeezes Jared’s hand. “I’m sorry I never — I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Jared says brightly, and smiles. He looks so happy that Richard can’t resist leaning in for one more kiss before they really have to concentrate on work.

*

Richard keeps the card, treasures it like he treasures this new, wonderful thing he and Jared have. Sometimes he takes it out, just to see the words again:

_Telling Richard how much I love him._


End file.
